(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Ayat al-Ghermezi has said that she was beaten, electrocuted and threatened with sexual assault in prison, all for reciting a poem in public that was critical of the regime.
Last month, a military court sentenced her to one year behind bars on charges of incitement and insulting members of the Al Khalifah regime.
In an exclusive interview, Ayat al-Ghermezi, a poetess and political activist in Manama, shares her experience of torture behind bars in a Bahraini prison.
Q: We need to know what happened to you in prison.
al-Ghermezi: When they caught me, they brought me to the CID [Criminal Investigation Department] department. And they were always with me within 9 days, in the morning, in the afternoon, at nights. Men and women were with me a lot. More than one person was with me at the same time. They dealt with us in a bad way, especially because we are political. And they said bad words to me, and told me to say bad words about myself, about my mother, about my father, and that is it.
Q: So you were tortured?
al-Ghermezi: They don't let me go to the toilet at anytime, I am not allowed to go to the toilet at any time.
Q: They were saying bad words about you and your family. What was the reason for that?
al-Ghermezi: They want to put me under pressure to say what they want .. and king to forgive me, only because I am ..., that's it.
Q: So the beat you, put you under pressure, and tortured you and finally made confessions.
al-Ghermezi: Yes.
Q: So you made all those confessions under pressure?
al-Ghermezi: Yes, Under pressure.
Q: Did they threaten to kill you?
al-Ghermezi: Yes.
Q: Did they threaten your family, did they say bad things about you family, as well?
al-Ghermezi: Yes, about my mother, about my father, especially.
Q: Are you feeling safe right now?
al-Ghermezi: Not very well, but to some extent.
Q: Have they told you not to speak with the media?
al-Ghermezi: They told me not to speak with the media, and don't make an interview with any channel and with any writers in the newspaper and journalism.
They said that we will bat you so you [don't] make any interview with the any channels.
Q: Are you afraid?
al-Ghermezi: No, not very much.
Q: So you are going to carry on with what you are doing, despite what they are saying to you? Are you planning to right more against the king?
al-Ghermezi: No, I am not trying to tell everyone I'm against the king. No, because we have rights to say our opinions, I will write to say our opinions, to say what the Bahrainis write, that's it.
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